Novels with a Social Conscience

Examine how eight important novelists offer moving, memorable stories that illuminate the injustices evident in cultures and communities. Issues of gender, race, ethnicity, and class are given special focus. We will read John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men,
Carson McCullers’s The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter,
Richard Wright’s Native Son,
Budd Schulberg’s What Makes Sammy Run?,
Julie Otsuka’s When the Emperor Was Divine,
Gloria Naylor’s The Women of Brewster Place,
Mark Haddon’s The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time,
and Édouard Louis’s The End of Eddy.
Active participation in class discussions is encouraged.